Maputo — The European Union has pledged financial support to a campaign to combat chronic malnutrition, launched in Maputo on Wednesday by the civil society platform known as SUN (Scaling Up Nutrition)-Mocambique.
The campaign says it intends to influence decision makers so that they include the question of malnutrition on the political agenda. Nutrition should be regarded “as a key factor for the welfare and development of children, families and communities”.
The campaign advocates greater investment by the Mozambican state in nutrition. It suggests an initial investment of at least 10 US dollars a year for every child under the age of five, rising by three per cent a year for the next three years.
SUN-Mocambique is totally financed by the EU. The EU counsellor for nutrition in Mozambique, Sara Piccoli, told the meeting “we know that malnutrition is a public health problem in Mozambique, which affects the lives of over two million children under five years of age. The EU will support this campaign, because it understands the importance of the cause”.
The level of chronic malnutrition among Mozambican children is estimated at 43 per cent. Piccoli said the EU regards reducing this level of malnutrition as a priority, and all actions tending to reduce malnutrition will always enjoy EU support, given that good nutrition is fundamental for the development of human beings.
Piccoli said that the EU has been working on food security and nutrition in Mozambique for several years, and that currently new rural development programmes are being designed for Nampula and Zambezia provinces, in which nutrition will be a key issue.
Speaking for SUN-Mocambique, Ligia Mutemba said the campaign seeks to raise the voice of civil society in the fight against chronic malnutrition, which is a brake on the entire process of economic and social development.
“Chronic malnutrition increases the rate of infant mortality, and affects the physical and cognitive development of children”, she said.”We want to raise awareness about improving access to health care for women and children under the age of five, and providing a healthy diet for children”.
A study on the costs of hunger in Mozambique, undertaken in 2018 by the government’s Food Security and Nutrition Technical Secretariat (SETSAN), showed that 26 per cent of infant mortality is linked to nutrition. About two thirds of the adult population suffered from malnutrition when they were children, and this leads to an annual loss equivalent to 11 per cent of the gross national product.